'…Arise and shine forth…' D&C 115:15

July 25, 2016February 6, 2018

Week 6

Hello beautiful people,
This week, there was a heat wave throughout the mission and because I am in the south, it was so hot and humid here, with the occasional sun. t was horrible. I have never appreciated the cold or the rain more. We even managed to get sunburned during our street display.

Sister Cannon and I, had the greatest opportunity to have our Mission President, President Ulrich and his wife Sister Ulrich, come to visit the Wrekin area. President Ulrich had meetings to attend but that meant that Sister Ulrich would come tracting with us. I learned a lot from those couple of hours with her and really admired how bold yet loving she is to the public. I noted the importance of speaking to absolutely everyone and always sharing something tangible with those we come into contact with. She also taught a lesson with us to our friend, Lawrence. Sister Ulrich shared some experiences that were so relevant to Lawrence, and President Ulrich offered him a blessing which was amazing to witness. It was also great to see the effect that it had on a recent convert, Tom, especially as he will receive the Aaronic Priesthood in the next week.

Ohhhhh ! And we met with Isis. is a young girl that I met at my first street display ! I walked up to her, spoke briefly about missionary work, transitioned into the Plan of Salvation, gave her a card and received her mobile number. Unfortunately, she is not in our area, but she lives in Wellington, which is within our district.

Side note: Our district includes the following.
Elder Strebel from Utah, United States of America and he completes his mission in the next couple of weeks. He is anxious about going home and he is training which seems so difficult.
His companion is Elder Bortone who is from Italy, however, was raised in Yorkshire, England and this is his first transfer. They are the Elders who are serving in the same ward as Sister Cannon and me, and I’ll try to get a photo for next week. He is your typical English lad.
Elder Cowdery from Adelaide, Australia. He finishes his twelve weeks of training this transfer. It is so nice to have another Australian ! Sister Cannon says that he looks like he would be from a cool clique in high school, but he is a nerd who likes computers.
Elder Spies from Johannesburg, South Africa and he is our district leader. He is very passionate, authoritative but hilarious. Fun fact, he loves house music but has a soft spot for classical music.
And all together we are the youngest district in the mission, as in collectively we have all been out the least amount of time. We are all so different but one in purpose.

Anyway, back to Isis. Even though she is not in our area, Sister Cannon and I were able to teach her first lesson before the Elders would continue. President, she is amazing. She is so studious when it comes to the gospel. She has so many questions, she loves the pamphlets and she researches. She is so fascinated by the golden plates and Joseph Smith ! So great ! When we told her that she would be meeting with the Elders, I was a little concerned as she has issues with males, and in particular male dominance, but Elder Spies and Elder Cowdery were so personal with her and she was comfortable. She is only sixteen, and her father doesn’t sound like the most supportive, however, she seems like a golden ! She even told the Elders at her second lesson that she believes the things that we teach are true ! I am so grateful to have met her, and I know that the gospel would be such a blessing in her life. I worry about her family and all, but she is on so many of the missionary prayer rolls, so here is hoping that their hearts are softened as she continues meeting with the Elders. Love prepared people !

Also, for those who like horoscopes and constellations…
Check out witnessinthestars.blogspot.co.uk
A senior missionary couple does this amazing devotional on how ‘All things bear record of me’ (Moses 6:63) – how science can tell us much about the workings of the universe and that the stars as studied by astronomy can also tell us of the Lord’s plan for His children, as opposed to astrology which is a perversion of astronomy and supposes that man’s future is in the stars. The signs of the Zodiac do in fact tell us of God’s plan, the Plan of Salvation.
SOOOOO INTERESTING ! I’ll end on that note.